The NHL has announced that Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks), Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild) and Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils) have been named as the finalists for the Calder Trophy. The award is handed out to the player who is the “most proficient in his first year of competition.”
Bedard led all NHL rookies in points (61) and goals (22), while being tied with Faber for first in assists (39) despite missing 14 games due to a broken jaw. The Blackhawks star became the second-youngest player in league history to finish the year as the leader or co-leader in all three of those categories.
If Bedard wins the award, he would become the 10th player in Blackhawks history to achieve that feat and would become the first Blackhawk to do so since Artemi Panarin in 2015-16.
Faber proved to be an iron man of sorts as he led all rookies in average ice time (24:58) and total ice time (2,047:53). He finished the season with eight goals and 39 assists while appearing in all 82 games.
The Wild blue-liner set the single-season team records for assists as he surpassed Calen Addison’s previous record of 26 assists. He also recorded the most points by a Wild defenseman, and topped Filip Kuba’s previous mark of 30 points from back in 2000-01. If he wins the award, he’ll become just the second player in franchise history to achieve the honor alongside Kirill Kaprizov in 2020-21.
Hughes also proved to be extremely productive on the blue line. The Devils defenseman finished tied with Faber for second in points (47) as he recorded nine goals and 38 assists in 82 games. Hughes led all rookies with 25 power-play points and 21 power-play assists.
The 20-year-old is attempting to become the third Calder Trophy winner in franchise history alongside Scott Gomez (1999-00) and Martin Brodeur (1993-94).
